Irving Williamson

Irving A. Williamson has served as a Commissioner of the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) since February 7, 2007. He served as Vice Chairman from 2010 to 2012 and as Chairman from 2012 to 2014.

Commissioner Williamson has almost 50 years of experience in the international and trade policy fields. Prior to his ITC appointment, he was for seven years President of Williamson International Trade Strategies, Inc., a New York City-based consulting firm, where he worked on over 20 U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and other donor-funded trade capacity building projects in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Caribbean and Asia and headed a USAID World Trade Organization (WTO) accession project in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

From 1993 to 1998, Commissioner Williamson was Deputy General Counsel at the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR). At USTR he worked on the WTO and North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) implementing legislation, served as Chairman of the interagency Section 301 Committee and was acting general counsel for seven months. He also played a role in the development of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) legislation.

From 1985 to 1993 Commissioner Williamson was Manager, Trade Policy for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Prior to the Port Authority, Commissioner Williamson served for 18 years as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State with overseas assignments in Switzerland, Madagascar and Mauritius; his Washington assignments included State’s Brazil Desk and details to USTR and the Treasury Department. Commissioner Williamson holds a BA in history from Brown University, an MA from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and a JD from the George Washington University Law School.